THE young son of a British couple imprisoned inIranon spying charges has revealed how devastated he was after hearing of his parents’ arrest.
Husband and wife have spent almost 150 days in jail since being detained during a round-the-world motorbike trip.
The Brits entered despite being warned by the Foreign Office and their family to avoid passing through the notoriously strict state.
The couple, both in their 50s, were held back in January on .
The Iranian government continues to claim they were “posing as tourists”; to gather intelligence against the Middle East nation.
Ever since their incarceration, the pair have hardly spoken to their loved ones and mainly had contact with the Foreign Office.
Now the teenage son of Craig, a carpenter, and wife Dr Lindsay, a life coach, has revealed how hard the past few months have been on the family.
Anxious Toby said Foreign Office officials visited his mum on Tuesday and handed her a letter from her closest loved ones back home.
He told theMirror: “There was a visit yesterday day. Someone from the Foreign Office, checking if she’s okay.
“We have been able to pass on a message to the Foreign Office, everyone wrote a letter to give them to them, but we don’t know what they received.
“We just don’t want to make things worse. We’re waiting to see if anything big happens over the next few months.”;
The 19-year-old university student described hearing about his parent’s arrest as a “real shock”;.
He said: “Everyone in the family is dealing with it in different ways. I had never heard about English people being detained out there.
“I thought there was more of a security concern with them taking relatively expensive bikes out there.
“We were not expecting for them to get detained.”;
Toby is holding on to hope that due to his mum’s long career in psychiatry she will be able to cope with her stretch as best as possible and help Craig too.
At the time of Craig and Linday’s arrest a spokesperson for the Iranian judiciary said: “These individuals were cooperating with covert institutions linked to the intelligence services of hostile Western countries under the guise of investigative and research activities.
“According to the observations of intelligence and security institutions, the connection of these individuals with several institutions affiliated with intelligence services has been confirmed, and additional investigations are ongoing in this regard.”;
The judiciary spokesperson also said the pair “were monitored with the cooperation of security agencies and arrested”;.
The pair first travelled into Iran fromon December 30, and reportedly planned to leave by January 4, as they headed for .
While in Iran they visited Tabriz, the capital Tehran, and Isfahan before staying in Kerman.
It was here where they were picked up by police and arrested.
At the time, the Foreign Office said the couples arrest had “caused significant concern”;.
The couple, who had previously been featured on‘s A New Life in the Sun, had ignored pleas from friends, family and the Foreign Office (FCDO) not to enter Iran.
guidance explicitly warns against all travel to the country, cautioning that British citizens could be arrested simply for their nationality.
Despite this, the pair acknowledged the extreme risk in a social media post on December 30.
It read: “Despite the advice of friends, family, and the FCDO (which strongly advises against travel to Iran for British nationals), we’ve chosen to keep moving forward.
“Why? Because we believe that, no matter where you are in the world, most people are good, kind humans striving for a meaningful life. Yes, we’re aware of the risks.
“We also know the rewards of meeting incredible people, hearing their stories, and seeing the breathtaking landscapes of these regions could far outweigh the fear.”;
The UK government has been urged to act quickly to try and free the pair.
Richard Ratcliffe, whose wifewas imprisoned in Iran for six years, urged officials to move faster than they did in her case.
He said: “My heart goes out to them, and I hope they are not in for a long ordeal, and that the government is able to respond more promptly than it did in our case.”;
